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Super Mario Land 4: Gotta Catch ‘Em All!
Super Mario Land 4: Gotta Catch ‘Em All! is a game released for the Xbox Syndicate console. It is a spin-off title in the tenth generation of the Pokémon series, featuring characters from other video game franchises, such as Kirby from Hal Laboratory’s Kirby series, as playable characters. Super Mario Land 4: Gotta Catch 'Em All! is the fourth entry in the Super Mario Land series, following 1993’s Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, and is not only the first Super Mario Land game in well over 25 years, but also the first in the series to be released for a home console. The game was originally released exclusively in the United States, but was later released in Australia and Japan as Super Mario Milestones 2 to coincide with the 2 year anniversary of Super Mario Milestones. Plot The game takes place immediately following the events of Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, in which Mario carries the golden statue of Princess Peach that he stole from Wario in his helicopter. However, a mysterious creature known as Rotom hijacks Mario’s helicopter and possesses it, causing Mario to be kicked out and fall towards the ground below. Mario survives the fall by landing on what appears to be a pink cushion. The cushion is actually revealed to be Kirby, who tells Mario that Rotom had taken his Warp Star. Mario agrees to help Kirby if he helps him get back his golden Peach statue. Mario soon runs into his long-time rival Wario, who reveals that he, as revenge for not getting the Peach statue to himself, has sent out his Rotom to steal the personal belongings of all the Pokémon in the land and putting them in his castle. Mario and Kirby travel the land to reclaim the treasures, but Wario shows up at every turn, sending out his Pokemon to stop them. Ultimately, Mario and Kirby manage to reach Wario's Castle and come face to face with Wario himself. Wario is not pleased with his Pokemon being “incompetent“ and decides he should deal with Mario and Kirby on his own. When Mario and Kirby destro the statue thry ultimately release Rotom (and capture him in a Poké Ball). Pinky Kong becomes enraged and transforms into Bowser in an attempt to avenge Rotom. A final battle takes place and the two heroes defeat Bowser with Rotom’s help. Pinky Kong is revealed to have been nothing more than a Ditto the whole time, saying she only wanted to help Rotom because she felt like she wasn’t useful enough. Mario and Kirby explain she has always been useful and that she can be useful now. Ditto is excited and transforms into a golden statue of Princess Peach, one that is bigger and better than the original one. Mario proceeds to take the new statue with him to Mario Land. However, his helicopter isn’t strong enough to carry the statue alone, so and Kirby helps him by using his Warp Star. The post-credits scene shows thst Ditto in quite happy in her statue form, standing proud and silent in front of Mario’s castle in Mario Land. Gameplay Super Mario Milestones 2 is s 2.5D sidescroller (in contrast to its predecessor, which was an open world 3D platformer). Mario is controlled by the player in the same way as in his classic NES and Game Boy titles; Mario starts off small and highly vulnerable, but once he obtains a Power-Up he will grow larger and gain the ability to smash brick blocks and take a hit from an enemy, which will cause him to shrink back to a smaller size. Mario is able to utilize Power-Ups in the form of a health bar, with any additional power up he obtains after he has acquired the Super Mushroom giving him more hit points. The game's HUD is made to resemble New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. 2, with the top part of the screen showing gameplay and the bottom part showing the item reserve, time limit, score, coin count and the player's place in the level. Despite this, the player can zoom in to show only the top portion by pressing Up on the right analog stick. An element borrowed from the beta version of New Super Mario Bros. is the option to store up to three items in the item reserve as opposed to only one. With the Wii Remote, players can point the cursor to select Power-Ups at any time. In each world, there are Dragon Coins, a returning item from Super Mario World. While the number of Dragon Coins may vary depending on the level, they are needed for both 100% completion and for unlocking bonus content. Similar to the first Super Mario Milestones, the sequel features levels and worlds from previous games in the Mario franchise, though now they mainly originate from the sidescroller games as opposed to 3D games (though World 2 is the only world in the game to be from a 3D Mario game). The game features three assist characters that are not playable, but provide the actual playable characters (Mario and Luigi) with help. Yoshi returns and, like before, can eat enemies with his tongue. Rambi can be riden like Yoshi, but has full immunity to enemies as his ability. Diddy Kong rides on Mario/Luigi's back and can use his jetpack to allow the bros to glide a short distance (with the Carrot, Super Leaf and Cape Feather, Diddy Kong is able to let the bros. glide faster and in a straight line from the point where he initially starts. Like with any 2D Mario game, the goal is to reach the end of a level under the time limit. When the timer runs out, the player will lose a life. If all the player’s lives are lost, the result is a Game Over. Players choose from two different playable characters: Mario and Kirby. However, the two differ from each other in the way they control. Mario controls like he always does, but Kirby is lighter and can inhale enemies with the press of the SELECT button. Power-Ups, like in previous 2D Mario games, serve as Mario‘s “health bar“ while also granting him new abilities and changing his overall appearance. This time around, the same also applies to Kirby. Both characters each have their own exclusive Power-Ups thst only they can use (ex. ONLY Mario can use the Rock Mushroom, not Kirby). Catching and Using Pokémon A new feature that makes Super Mario Land 4 stand out from other 2D Mario titles is the inclusion of Pokémon species that can be captured using Poké Balls. Pokemon serve as power-ups but not in the same sense as regular Power-UPS, as they are pseudo-temporary and only stick around until the player decides to activate them by pressing one the shoulder buttons. Pokemon can either transform the player or can be summoned to assist the player. Up to two Pokémon can be stored in the Pokemon Reserve on thr bottom of the screen during levels. Gameplay Modes In the game’s main story mode, Adventure, the goal is to find keys scattered throughout the Typo Archipelago. These keys, Upon bring collected, open the door to Rotom’s Museum, where players can face off against Rotom. There is also a two-player co-op mode in which one player controls Mario and the other player controls Kirby. In addition to the Adventure mode, the game features two other campaigns, Kong Mode and Pinky Mode. Kong Mode follows a format that is reminiscent of the first three Donkey Kong Country games for the Super Nintendo. This mode brings back the "tag-team" system (the likes of which hadn’t been seen since the GBA remake of Donkey Kong Country 3). Two playable Kongs, Tiny Kong and Candy Kong, follow each other through each level. The Kong in the front of the group is the one in play. If this Kong is hit by an enemy, she runs away and the lone Kong must watch out for obstacles, as if that Kong is hit by an enemy, a life is lost. Kongs can be recovered from DK Barrels, but there are only a few of these objects in every level. When one of the Kongs is freed from a DK Barrel, she goes to the back of the line and follows the other Kong. At this point, the Kong in the back does not go to the front of the line unless the Kong in the lead is hit by an enemy, or if the player presses the select button on the controller. Downloadable Content A DLC expansion pack, Donkey Kong Country: Jungle Doubles (also known simply as Jungle Doubles) will be released. It requires the NintenGo add on in order to play. The expansion pack adds two new playable characters (Pinky Kong and DJ Kong) and a new gameplay mechanic reminiscent of Knuckles Chaotix. Characters Playable Characters Supporting Worlds Worlds NOTE: This List is a work in progress. World e (World 0) World e, originally from Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, is the first world in the game. The only original level in the game, Castle Hastle, is where players rescue Donkey Kong and learn his trademark Pound move. The levels in this world are as follows: |- |Bonus Levels |- | |} Jungle Jungle is world returning from Donkey Kong Country Returns. It is the first official world featured in the game, not counting World e. When the player defeats Mugly, they rescue Rango (one of the four Broodals), who gives Mario access to his Carrot Power-Up to use in the next world. This is the only world in the game to feature Rambi and mine carts. The levels in this world are as follows: |- |Bonus Levels |- | |} World 2 World 2 is from Super Mario Galaxy 2. World 2 is space themed. When Bowser is defeated and players rescue Rosalina, they will be rewarded with the ability to perform a spin attack. The levels in this world are as follows: |- |Bonus Levels |- | |} Frozen World Frozen World is from New Super Mario Bros. Wii and is the third world in the game. Frozen World, as its name applies, features snow and ice levels. After the player rescues Wario, they learn the Shoulder Dash move. The levels in this game are as follows: |- |Bonus Levels |- | |} Jiggle Jungle Jiggle Jungle is the fourth world in the game. It made its first appearance in Wario Land Shake It! Jiggle Jungle is the second jungle-themed world in the game, though most of the levels, strangely, do not have a jungle theme. The levels in this world are as follows: |- |Bonus Levels |- | |} Mario Zone Mario Zone is the fifth world in the game. The Mario Zone is a giant clockwork statue of Mario himself. With only four main levels and one cannon level, Mario Zone is the shortest world in the game. It is also the only world in the game without any bonus levels. After the player defeats the Three Little Pigheads, they rescue Toadette, who is dressed as a penguin. Toadette will reward the player with access to her Penguin Suit Power-Up to use in the next world. The levels featured in this world are as follows: |} Dinosaur Land World 6, known as Dinosaur Land, is the sixth world in the game. Unlike the previous five worlds, Dinosaur Land is a combination of two worlds from Super Mario World. The first half of Dinosaur Land, Yoshi's Island, has four levels and a boss level featuring Iggy Koopa. The second half, Donut Plains, features five main levels, three secret levels, and a boss level featuring Morton Koopa. Both sections of Dinosaur Land feature a Switch Palace level. |- |Secret Levels |- | |} Wario’s Castle Wario’s Castle is the eighth world in the game. Wario’s Castle Features only one level that ends with a boss battle between Wario and Mario. DLC Worlds Super Mario Milestones 2 features Shantae Arabic Magic, a DLC expansion pack. The pack adds five new worlds based on the Shantae series. The pack also adds Shantae herself as an additional playable character. World 1 World 1 is the first world of Shantae: Arabic Magic. |- |Bonus Levels |- | |} World 2 World 2 is the second world in Shantae: Arabic Magic. |- |Bonus Levels |- | |} World 3 World 3 is the third world in Shantae: Arabic Magic. |- |Bonus Levels |- | |} World 4 World 4 is the fourth world in Shantae: Arabic Magic. |- |Bonus Levels |- | |} World 5 World 5 is the fifth and final world in Shantae Arabic Magic. |- |Bonus Levels |- | |} Lonely Island Electric Island Steel Island Water Island Psychic Island Ice Island Fire Island Rotom’s Museum Jungle Doubles Levels Power-Ups Standard Powers Pokémon Powers Trivia * There were plans for another DLC pack, Candy Land Paradise, which would have featured new power ups and levels themed after the Candy Land board game. However, said plans were cancelled when Nintendo failed to get the license from Hasbro. * Copy-Ability-Studios originally created another new chatacter, Pinky Kong, to appear in the game. However, due to her resemblance to Shantae, she was shelved until the release of ShantApe. * The game is a collaborative effort between Copy-Ability-Studios and BiggestKirbyFanEver1991. * Super Mario Land 4: Gotta Catch Em All went through numerous changes during development: ** BiggestKirbyFanEver1994 originally started the project as a Donkey Kong game titled Donkey Kong Time Travel. It was later changed into a Mario/Sonic crossover titled New Sonic Mario Bros. when BiggestKirbyFanEver1994 got the idea to throw non-Donkey Kong characters into the mix. When Pokémon and Kirby characters were included, however, it became less like a Donkey Kong game and more like a Smash Bros. game, so Copy-Ability-Studios made the decision to have the project shift the focus solely to Mario and Pokémon, though he made sure the characters from Kirby, Sonic and Donkey Kong were still included, albeit with less significant roles. ** DJ Kong, one of the game's villains, was originally conceived by BiggestKirbyFanEver1994 as a customizable "Avatar Kong" that would have been created by the player. Gallery Logos International Box Arts